ARMENIA THREATENS TO DROP OUT OF PEACE TALKS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian made destructive statements
during the recent discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Oskanian said the conflict settlement will be specified over the next
two months. He said if official Baku accepts the right of Garabagh
Armenians to self-determination, “Yerevan and Khankandi will be ready
to consider all the issues involved afterwards”. Otherwise, Armenia
will not participate in the talks concerning Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and the return of Azeri refugees home, Oskanian maintained.

“Granting Upper Garabagh’s Armenian residents the right to
self-administration should be taken as the main principle. If this
position of ours is not taken as a basis in the negotiating process,
Armenia will not be involved in addressing the problems of the persons
displaced by the conflict,” the Armenian minister alleged.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the OSCE Minsk Group (MG)
mediation allows the conflicting sides to reach an accord. The
co-chairs are constantly working on proposals on the conflict
resolution that could help the parties to move the peace process
forward, he said.

“We do not disclose the details, as this is not in our authority,
but that of the parties to the conflict. But the Minsk Group has some
proposals that could be deemed as key for the conflict settlement,”
Lavrov said.

While in Moscow, Oskanian also met with the Russian co-chair of the
OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress